The Benefits of Imperfection:Biology, Society, and Beyond

by: Olivier Hamant (Author)

Publisher:

Edition: 1st

Publication Date: 2024/9/30

Language: English

Print Length: 176 pages

ISBN-10: 1032832207

ISBN-13: 9781032832203

Book Description

The cult of performance leads our society to emphasise the values of success and continuous optimisation in all areas. Slowness, redundancy and randomness are therefore negatively perceived. Olivier Hamant, in his book, reclaims them by his knowledge of biological processes.What can we lea from life sciences? While some biological mechanisms certainly boast formidable efficiency, recent advances instead highlight the fundamental role of errors, incoherence or slowness in the robustness of living organisms. Should life be considered suboptimal? To what extent could suboptimality become a counter-model to the credo of performance and control in the Anthropocene?In the face of pessimistic observations and environmental alerts, the author outlines solutions for a future that is viable and reconciled with nature.Key Features:Solidly documents with a grounding in scientific facts focusing on solutionsExplores a pragmatic way towards robustness, moving the debate beyond performance, technolatry or degrowthResponds to eco-anxiety by providing an engaging and viable way forward

About the Author

The cult of performance leads our society to emphasise the values of success and continuous optimisation in all areas. Slowness, redundancy and randomness are therefore negatively perceived. Olivier Hamant, in his book, reclaims them by his knowledge of biological processes.What can we lea from life sciences? While some biological mechanisms certainly boast formidable efficiency, recent advances instead highlight the fundamental role of errors, incoherence or slowness in the robustness of living organisms. Should life be considered suboptimal? To what extent could suboptimality become a counter-model to the credo of performance and control in the Anthropocene?In the face of pessimistic observations and environmental alerts, the author outlines solutions for a future that is viable and reconciled with nature.Key Features:Solidly documents with a grounding in scientific facts focusing on solutionsExplores a pragmatic way towards robustness, moving the debate beyond performance, technolatry or degrowthResponds to eco-anxiety by providing an engaging and viable way forward